Supplemental budget to restore DepEd fund cuts — Carpio

Metro Manila, Philippines — Passing a supplemental budget is an option to restore hefty cuts in the 2025 budget for the Department of Education (DepEd) and to align it with the constitutional mandate, retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said on Thursday, Dec. 26.

Carpio said while President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. can veto items in the proposed General Appropriations Act (GAA), he cannot realign funds.

“Ang option niya, tanggalin niya yung amount from the Department of Public Works, let’s say P360 billion. So, pwede ngayon yan i-appropriate ng Congress in a supplemental budget,” said Carpio in an interview with NewsWatch Plus.

[Translation: His option is to remove the amount from the Department of Public Works, say, ₱360 billion. Congress can now appropriate that in a supplemental budget.]

He said the Constitution requires prioritizing the education sector in the national budget, but this was not the case in the version approved by the bicameral conference committee and ratified by Congress.

“To comply with the Constitution, he will have to reduce the budget of DPWH by about P360 billion plus para mas mataas yung budget for education to comply with the Constitution. Pero yung tinanggal mo from the Department of Public Works, you cannot add that to the Department of Education,” Carpio added.

[Translation: "To comply with the Constitution, he will have to reduce the DPWH budget by about ₱360 billion-plus so that the education budget will be higher, as required by the Constitution. However, the amount removed from the Department of Public Works cannot be added to the Department of Education.]

Education Secretary Sonny Angara previously lamented the ₱12-billion budget cut in his agency budget.

Of the amount, he said ₱10 billion was for the department’s computerization program, which “could have funded thousands of computers/gadgets for our public school children.”

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said on Wednesday that the president is thoroughly reviewing the budget items to make sure about constitutional compliance. He said Marcos is consulting with Cabinet members ahead of the budget’s scheduled signing on Dec. 30.

“The president and the Cabinet are right now (with or without the calls) thoroughly reviewing the various items of the GAA to make them conform to the Constitution, and to see to it that the budget prioritizes the main legacy thrusts of the administration,” said Bersamin.

“The president has been most prudent in programming and spending of our limited fiscal resources,” he added.